I’m standing before you, do I look like a sick man?” Presidential Candidate Bola Tinubu asked rhetorically at a function on Saturday in the northern city of Kano.
Mr Tinubu, who was addressing the Kano Business Community Council, sought to dismiss concerns about his health, which has themed most discussions, since he emerged the flag bearer for the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2023 elections.
As he had maintained before, Mr Tinubu argued that his presidential ambition should not be judged on his physical fitness as he was “not running for a 100-yard or 500-yard race. I am running for the presidency.”
Mr Tinubu asserted that people who complain about his health are “ignorant”, adding that his opposition are only jealous because he is the “smarter” candidate.
“I am not competing in WWE wrestling,” he stressed.
The APC flag bearer said a resounding victory would shut the mouth of his naysayers, urging his audience to “Vote me out of their reach.”
“Vote me 100%. They will stop complaining because I am smarter than they are,” he added.
Mr Tinubu, 70, has been a subject stern scrutiny for his health after Nigerians endured long days leadership vacuum under incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari as he tended to his health abroad while state affairs suffered vigorously.
In February, Peoples Gazette published a video which suggested that Mr Tinubu was suffering urinary incontinence as his flowing garment was soaked from behind and one of his security aides frantically covering his nose, apparently disturbed by an oozing foul odour.
Another photo of Mr Tinubu, where he wore an inner device believed to be a ‘catheter bag’, emerged on the internet in September, further raising questions about his frail health status, ahead of the 2023 general election.
In recent times, Mr Tinubu has made some incoherent statements which have further raised concerns among his watchers, who fear the 70-year-old may be showing signs of dementia.
A few days ago, Mr Tinubu caused a stir when he said Kaduna Governor Nasir El-rufai’s vision, creativity and resilience in turning “a rotten situation into a bad one” is necessary for the incoming administration.
At another function in Kaduna, when asked how his administration would tackle climate change as being championed by the West, Mr Tinubu answered by saying: “Climate change is a question of how do you prevent a church rat from eating a poisoned Holy Communion.”
In one of his recent public engagements, Mr Tinubu admitted that his handlers had warned him not to speak outside his written script, in an apparent move to curtail his slew of gaffes.
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